Tennessee Car Insurance Quotes, Laws, and Other Info

Need to learn about car insurance in Tennessee? Keep reading for information about required coverage, penalties for driving uninsured, electronic proof of insurance, important coverage considerations, which Tennessee city has some of the lowest prices in the U.S., and more.

Mandatory insurance law

Tennessee is a “tort” state where all drivers must have car insurance.

Minimum Tennessee coverage requirements

State law sets certain standards for auto insurance policies. Those standards require every policy sold in the state to include a minimum amount of liability coverage. The following table breaks down the requirements.

Liability coverage

When someone driving your car causes an accident, liability coverage pays for victims’ medical and repair bills. However, it only pays up to a certain amount. Minimum Tennessee car insurance policies include $50,000 worth of coverage for all medical bills and $15,000 for all property damages. If you get the minimum amount of liability insurance, you may see it referred to as 25/50/15 coverage. You can buy more than the minimums to be better protected.

Remember, liability doesn’t cover the driver’s medical bills or car repairs. They only cover those expenses for accident victims.

Penalties for driving uninsured

If you break the law and don’t buy coverage, it could cost you. If someone gets into an accident while driving your uninsured car, you could get stuck having to pay other people’s medical and repair bills. You could also have your license and registration suspended. On top of that, there are additional fines and fees.

State officials have tried to deal with the problem of uninsured drivers with stricter laws. One law, called the Ricky Otts Act, was approved in 2012. It requires that police arrest drivers involved in a serious accident if they can’t provide proof of insurance and a driver’s license.

Electronic proof of insurance

You’ll have to prove that you’re insured during traffic stops and after an accident in Tennessee. You can provide this proof with your smartphone or other electronic device thanks to the electronic proof law, which went into effect in May 2013.

For the electronic document to be valid proof of insurance, it should clearly state at least the following:

Name of the insurer

Insurance policy number

Policy period

Name and address of each insured driver

Policy limits

Make and model of each covered vehicle

Even if you have an electronic insurance ID, it may be best to keep a hard copy with you in the car. If you can’t prove you’re insured, it could result in a $100 fine, according to state law.

Coverage decisions

Optional coverages

In addition to liability coverage, there are optional coverages you can add to your policy. They’ll raise the cost of your insurance, but they’ll also provide greater protection. The following are the most widely available coverage add-ons in the state.

Comprehensive

It pays for repairing or replacing the insured car if it’s damaged by something other than a collision. Some examples of this type of damage are vandalism, hail damage, and theft. Nearly three-fourths of Tennessee drivers bought this coverage in 2011.

Collision

It pays for repairing or replacing the insured vehicle after an accident. Just over two-thirds of Tennessee drivers bought this coverage in 2011.

Uninsured/underinsured motorists (UM/UIM)

It pays your medical bills and the medical bills of your family and passengers after an accident. It does so if the person who caused the accident either:

Doesn’t have insurance or fled the scene of the accident

Has insurance, but not enough to cover all your medical bills

Rental reimbursement

It pays for the cost of renting a car after an accident.

Towing

It pays for towing and labor due to a mechanical breakdown.

Loan/lease payoff

It pays the difference between an insurance company’s payment for a totaled car and the remaining balance on the car’s loan or lease.

Protection against uninsured drivers

A lot of Volunteer State drivers don’t have car insurance. According to industry research, nearly 25% of drivers in the state lack the required coverage. The state has the 3rd-highest rate of uninsured drivers in the U.S. With an estimated 1 out of 4 Tennessee drivers on the road without insurance, you should consider buying coverage to protect yourself.

If you’re involved in an accident caused by an uninsured driver, UM/UIM coverage will pay for your medical bills, while collision will pay for your car repairs. Those coverages are optional, so if you don’t have them you might end up having to pay those bills yourself.

How claims work in Tennessee

Tennessee uses a “tort” system for car insurance claims. That means if someone injures you or wrecks your car, their liability insurance pays your medical and repair bills.

But in some cases, the other driver won’t be 100% responsible for the accident. Your actions could have contributed to the accident, and you could be partially responsible. This makes things a little more complicated.

If you’re partially responsible, it changes how much you can get from the other driver’s insurer. Tennessee uses “modified comparative fault” to determine payment. Here are the details:

If you’re at least 50% responsible for the accident: The other driver’s insurer doesn’t pay any of your bills. You have to completely rely on your own policy.

If you’re less than 50% responsible for the accident : The other driver’s insurer will pay your bills, but the amount they pay will be reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if you’re 20% responsible for an accident, the other driver’s insurer doesn’t pay 100% of your bills. Instead, it pays only 80%, since you were 20% responsible. So in this example, if you have $10,000 in bills from an accident, the other driver’s insurer has to pay only $8,000.

So what if the other driver’s insurer doesn’t pay your bills? You use your own policy. Medical payments coverage will help pay your medical bills. Collision will help pay your repair bills. But both of those coverages are optional. You’ll be on your own if you didn’t add them to your policy.

Tennessee auto insurance rates

Tennessee car insurance premiums are much cheaper than the national average. The average cost of a policy in the state was 15.8% below the 2011 national average. Only 12 states had cheaper auto insurance than Tennessee.

Low premiums for Chattanoogans

The city of Chattanooga has a big name, but low premiums. Southeastern Tennessee’s Chattanooga has some of the lowest premiums in the country, according to a Runzheimer International study. The study said Chattanooga had the 9th-cheapest premiums of any city in the U.S.

Usage-based discounts

If you drive safely, infrequently, or both, you may want to look into a usage-based discount program. These programs use a device you install in your car to track how far it’s driven and/or if it’s driven safely. Depending on how you drive, you could potentially get a discount of up to 30%.

The following major insurers offer usage-based discounts in the Volunteer State:

Progressive: Snapshot

Allstate: Drivewise

Rate changes

Car insurance companies regularly change their pricing structures. If you want to see which insurers are changing how they price their policies, state regulators make it easy for you to do so by publishing rate changes online. The document shows the company name, its size, its rate change history, and upcoming changes for the year.

Tennessee car insurance companies

Complaints

If you have a complaint with your Tennessee car insurance company, there’s help. Officials from the state’s Consumer Insurance Services can investigate your complaint and help you resolve issues when you submit a formal complaint online.

Coverage for high-risk drivers

If you’ve had a hard time finding a car insurer who will cover you (usually because of marks on your driving record), you can still turn to the Tennessee Automobile Insurance Plan. The Plan is the car insurer of last resort for the state’s high-risk drivers.

Did You Know?

Cheap Chattanooga premiums

According to a study by Runzheimer International, Chattanooga had the lowest average premiums of any city in the country in 2012.

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